Religions for
Peace: Confronting violence and advancing shared security
Kyoto, Japan
August 26-29, 2006
The task of Peace Education
I. At the beginning of the third millennium, Peace Education
in and through the Religions faces a great number of Challenges
worldwide:
• Too many children and young people suffer from unjust
social structures: lack schooling and training, in extreme situations
are surrounded by violence in war and post war situations, are
forced to child labor, child slavery, child prostitution.
• Too many children and young people lack the experience
of love, security and protection, are exposed to consumerism,
experience widespread neglect, use drugs and are willing to resort
to violence.
• Too many children and young people lack fundamental religious
and cultural orientation: the knowledge of their own religious
and cultural tradition as well as of other religions and world
views, and therefore are exposed to prejudices, one sided views
and enmities between cultural and religious groups.
• Too many children and young people do not receive the
necessary ethical guidance: They will only be equipped for living
together in a way that will ensure the continued existence of
our planet if they respect their fellow human beings, feel responsibility
for all the living and inanimate world of creation, are sensitive
to hatred, violence and all developments that threaten life and
commu¬nity.
II. Peace Education can profit from the spiritual, ethical and
social potential of the Religions
• In spite of a history full of tensions, conflicts and
wars there is a deep motivation for peace in the Religions –
not only for personal and inner peace but also for actively overcoming
aggression and creating a strong coalition for a comprehensive
peace. Nearly all great Peace movements since the 20th century
– for example the non-violent movement of Mahatma Gandhi,
the civil rights movement of Martin Luther King, the anti apartheid
movement in South Africa and the change in the German Democratic
Republic – have been religiously motivated.
It is an experience of religions that peace must come “from
within”, that the “open heart” is a precondition
for actively working for peace.
• The Religions are concerned with giving meaning to life,
making interpretations of the world, and not only for short-term
goals. The ethic of the great religious traditions is rooted in
global, not particularistic, terms. The Global Ethic Declaration
of the World Parliament of Religions (1993) shows this very clearly.
• The Religions can foster the Learning for a Culture of
Non-violence and Respect for Life – and this in interfaith
cooperation.
• The Religions can foster the Learning for a Culture of
Solidarity and a Just Economic Order – and this in interfaith
cooperation.
• The Religions can foster the Learning for a Culture of
Tolerance and a Life in Truthfulness – and this in interfaith
cooperation
• The Religions can foster the Learning for a Culture of
Equal Rights and Partnership between Men and Women – and
this in interfaith cooperation
III. The Religions have to develop proposals for actions in order
to implement their potential for Peace Education
• Being rooted in an ultimate concern they can give the
strength to work in the long, not only in the short term –
and this should become a familiar part of all religious educational
endeavours
• From their experiences they can be active in the prevention
of conflicts, in conflict resolution and in post-conflict reconciliation
work – and for this educational work has to be expanded.
It will be important to find a good balance between teaching ones
own religion and knowing about the other – and this will
be relevant for concepts of confessional as well as of non-confessional
Religious Education. Where ever direct encounter between religious
communities is possible it should be promoted to enable authentic
presentations of religious beliefs and practices.
• The Religions have to build up a global consciousness
for Religious and Inter-religious Education, for an Education
towards Violence free Communication and Conflict Resolution and
for Environmental Education and Education for Socio-Economic Development.
- A basic condition is the respect for the conviction of the others
and to try to see it from their point of view.
- A specific task is to recognise carefully the real situation
of children and to encourage their creativity taking in account
that children can be educators themselves.
- A helpful means will be to bring youth together for social action
: Youth can inspire and teach Youth.
- There are many inspiring stories in different regional and cultural
contexts which can be used for a fruitful exchange between educators
and educational institutions (as an example: the exchange between
the Peace Village Neve Shalom in Israel and Northern Ireland Integrative
Education Projects).
• It is a task as well as an opportunity for Religions
for Peace – through its Peace Education Standing Commission
(PESC) as well as through its international, regional, national
and local bodies – to support the emerging networks in Religious
Education, Peace Education, Social Education, Human Rights Education
and Environmental Education worldwide.
It is clear that all initiatives must be contextualised to the
specific area, cultural, social and educational conditions. For
example: Japan as the country of the 8th World Assembly of RfP
shows the uniqness of a very specific religious environment.
• A more intense exchange is to be developed concerning
the fundamental visions and goals in Peace Education Projects,
their training methods, their experiences and the transfer possibilities
so that educators, communities and also cultural educational bodies
can profit from each other.
In detail this means:
- Encouraging contact and cooperation between theologians and
religious teachers from the different religions as well as experts
comparative religion
- Improving the training of religious teachers and the clergy
in the knowledge of other religions and world-views and their
ethical principles - permitting each side to present its identity
- Reviewing and revising guidelines, syllabi and textbooks concerning
their presentation of other religions and world-views
- Looking carefully and critically to the history or religions
- Including encounters with believers of different religions in
educational programmes
- look for cooperation possibilities between school and communal
activities and to inspire school community projects.
- Taking in account the possibility of a children’s Conference
beginning with the 9th World Assembly
IV. There are a number of steps to be identified and recommended
to equip religious communities and institutions for significant
involvement in Peace Education.
• The fundamental insight of the Peace Education Standing
Commission (PESC) is that it needs continuous and systematic inter-religious
and international cooperation which goes beyond meetings and declarations
(important as they are for initial and repeated exchange and inspiration).
• The PESC work has so far been successful in that it has
identified the fields of action and has equipped experts as well
as giving guidelines for practical Peace Education work in different
regions and religious, cultural and social contexts. The triennial
Nuremberg Forums for Education for Religious and Cultural encounter
have been a focus on an international level.
• Each National Chapter of Religions for Peace should nominate
at least one representative who has experience in the pedagogical
field to be associated with the Steering Committee and Advisory
Council of PESC in order to deepen and widen the work
• The work of PESC should be brought into closer cooperation
with other international and intercultural Educational movements
– as in the framework of UNESCO, the International Seminary
on Religious Education and Values (ISREV), the European Association
on World Religions in Education (EAWRE), and others.
• PESC should be in a position to inspire and inform new
initiatives for religious and inter-religious education in schools
as well as in religious communities.
Some examples:
-Developing ways to show the relevance of spiritual values for
educational matters
- Promoting weeks of prayer for World Peace
- Giving inspiration and help for religious and interreligious
learning in the family
- Presenting peace texts from the religions
-Promoting interreligious awareness in and with the media, especially
for youth
- Strengthening the PESC website, showing also “good examples”
of syllabuses and creative ways (art, music…) for the educational
encounter of Religions
• Therefore the infrastructure of PESC needs to be strengthened.
Until now the possibilities for exchange and activities on a Global
Level have been limited. It will be important to have a professional
Commission Coordination (as was possible during the first time
after the establishment of PESC) and scientific institutions to
further develop and evaluate religiously based Peace education.
Thinking globally, acting locally and working constructively
on the international, regional and national level – having
careful regard to the specific contexts, challenges and possibilities
– makes Peace Education in and through the Religions a key
tool in confronting violence and advancing shared security.
For further information and suggestions contact: Peace Education
Standing Commission (PESC)
Prof. Dr. Johannes Lähnemann, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
Regensburger Str. 160 Fax: +49-911-5302-502
D-90478 Nürnberg, Germany E-mail: johannes.laehnemann@ewf.uni-erlangen.de
www.wcrp.de/pesc
|
